Naturally, efficiency and high reliability are the most important requirements when it comes to an economic and competitive production. But the idea of sustainability becomes more and more important to companies when it comes to weigh the pros and cons of a capital investment. The innovative ASCO CO2 stack gas recovery plant includes ASCOSORB technology and scores highly with an environmentally friendly overall concept for CO2 recovery. The modern system allows HOCHDORF Swiss Nutrition AG to recycle more than 90% of the CO2 contained in the plant´s stack gas.

Dr. Karl Gschwend, Managing Director Strategic Projects, explains, “As one of the Swiss market leaders in the development, manufacture and marketing of valuable food, environmental protection has always been a major concern to us.”

“The new ASCO recovery plant provides the optimal solution to produce sustainable and to be able to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 10-15% each year. So CO2 exhaust gases can be prevented and used profitably for our company.”

In the first process step, the flue stream from the client´s steam boiler is collected, cooled and treated in the scrubber to remove any solids and sulphur compounds present. Subsequently, the CO2 is selectively absorbed from the flue stream by means of a special solution in order to get liberated later in the process with the help of thermal energy, providing CO2 gas for further processing. In the following steps, the gas is compressed, further purified, dried and liquefied so that it can be stored in tanks. The balance of the flue stream – mainly water vapour, nitrogen and oxygen – is vented to the atmosphere. The plant´s capacity of 285kg/h allows recovery of up to 2,200 tonnes of CO2 profitably, and environmentally friendly, each year.

Marco Pellegrino, Managing Director ASCO Carbon Dioxide Ltd, takes a stand on the quality of the recovered CO2. He said, “There is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to CO2 purity and therefore to the hygiene requirements for food, particularly baby food. In our case, the recovered carbon dioxide meets the specifications of ISBT and the requirements of other food and beverage standards in its entirety.”

“In addition, our CO2 stack gas recovery system offers a profitable source of CO2 for the HOCHDORF Swiss Nutrition AG as well as a cost-effective alternative to conventional CO2 production or purchase of liquid CO2.”

The ASCO recovery plant was put into operation in August this year and has been running to the full satisfaction of the customer since then.

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